It is a privilege to feel that one’s community is represented. Whether it’s in books, television or the school they attend, every student wants to feel seen and understood. Unfortunately, Indigenous people have often been underrepresented in these spaces. Many people are unaware of the significant influence Indigenous culture has on their daily lives, from the language they speak to the land they walk on. Indigenous life is not a historical phenomenon or a thing of the past; it is still vibrantly alive in the present day. Grant High School is surrounded by Indigenous culture, even when it goes unnoticed.Eleven thousand years ago, Portland was occupied by the Chinook, Clackamas, Kathlamet, Multnomah and Tualatin tribes, along with many others. The names of these tribes have become familiar to the average Oregonian, as various locations in the state have been named after them. However, many fail to realize where the names originate from. The Chinook tribe lived along the Columbia River, which runs through Oregon and Washington state. The Clackamas people, who had about 12 villages, lived in the areas that are today known as Portland and Oregon City. These tribes fished for salmon, hunted animals, gathered berries and lived in harmony with nature.
The vast number of Native tribes that are currently present in Portland may come as a surprise to some. The Native community of Portland is descended from over 380 different tribes, and there are nine Native nations throughout the state of Oregon. Today, these tribes celebrate their cultures by hosting powwows, salmon fests and other events that bring them together as a community.
For people who grew up seeing versions of themselves in every TV show and movie they watched, it can be difficult to grasp how important diverse representation is. Indigenous and other marginalized communities often don’t have the luxury of growing up with an accurate representation of their culture in the media; when Native people do show up on screen, they are often confined to culturally inaccurate and narrow stereotypes.
The same problems occur in marketing media. Many brands have used offensive and stereotypical depictions of Native people to market their products. This phenomenon can be seen with products like Land O’Lakes butter, whose logo depicted a stereotypical Native woman kneeling, holding butter in her hands and lifting it to the sky, until the woman was removed from the logo in 2020. Such imagery makes it clear that few Indigenous people were involved in the process of creating products that their people were depicted in and contributed to their damaging representation in the media.
These issues emphasize the importance of allowing Native students to feel seen and heard in the place where they spend the majority of their time: school.
Frankie Stevenson Harjo, a junior at Grant, is the president of the Indigenous Person’s Student Union (IPSU) — a place for Native students at Grant to feel welcomed and accepted in their community.
Stevenson Harjo believes that Grant does well at uplifting students of color, but he would like to see more representation across the board.
“There’s so much more we could be doing, but for the resources we are given, I would say we’re doing a pretty decent job. Exposure would definitely be great — having more people at the IPSU meetings,” he says.
As the president of IPSU, Stevenson Harjo hopes he can make more Native students aware of the community they can find at Grant.
One of the ways that IPSU has achieved this goal is through events such as the Fall Festival, which took place on Oct. 27. The event celebrated various affinity groups and general clubs at Grant. IPSU’s table at the festival sold frybread, a Native food often served at powwows and other celebratory events, made by Grant Vice Principal Jessika Magnett.
On Oct. 11-12, the Portland Indigenous Marketplace hosted its Indigenous People’s Day Weekend celebration at the Oregon Convention Center. The event hosted 50-100 Black and Indigenous artists, entrepreneurs and musicians. Drum groups and Native flute players filled the space with celebratory sounds as people browsed the wide variety of art created by talented Indigenous artists in the Portland area. Events such as this make it clear that Indigenous people in Portland are thriving while celebrating their lives and continuously uplifting their community.
Indigenous People’s Day is also a time to process the grief that comes with the devastating genocide of Native people that took place over hundreds of years. The colonization of the U.S. caused a horrific number of deaths for the Indigenous tribes who lived on this land before European settlers.
Many still claim that Columbus “discovered” the Americas, and refuse to acknowledge the generations of Indigenous people who lived prosperous and productive lives before he arrived. Although Oregon has a wide variety of cultural events to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, many other states don’t recognize the holiday and continue to refer to it as Columbus Day. Looking back at the U.S.’s colonial history and acknowledging the pain and generational trauma that it has caused is one of the first steps to building a better understanding of Indigenous culture.
Numerous powerful Native voices have fought back against the racism that their community has faced. One of them is Stevenson Harjo’s grandmother.
Suzan Shown Harjo— a Native activist, poet and writer — has worked since the 1960s to fight back against the racist Native stereotypes continuously found in the U.S. She is best known for her involvement in Pro-Football Inc. v. Harjo, a case in which she fought alongside activist Vine Deloria Jr. and Native painter Mateo Romero, among others, to change the name of the Washington, D.C. professional football team. On Sept. 12, 1992, Shown Harjo won the case. Although the owner of the team resisted the change, due to the powerful voices of activists, the name was finally officially changed in 2020. Now, at the age of 80, Shown Harjo continues to fight for the rights of Native people across the country.
Stevenson Harjo is inspired by the work of his grandmother. “She’s amazing. She’s definitely my role model,” he says.
In a time of ceaseless movement and production, understanding Indigenous culture can increase mindfulness about the ways in which one treats the earth and the environment around them. Many lessons can be learned from the tribes who occupied this land before anyone else.
Much can be learned from the history of this city before it was known as Portland. If the existence of Native tribes is overlooked, their culture may be erased completely. Indigenous culture is not a thing of the past. Indigenous people are not solely historical figures, and they are not extinct. Native people are still here, continuing to celebrate, uplift and honor the traditions of their ancestors.
